Dogfight They who dance with death
by ToaVeka
Summary: G1 Aerialbot centric. I was given a request to write a fic where Skydive got to be the master flyer/tactician he was supposed to be. I was happy to oblige.


I recently had a contest on DeviantArt. First place wanted a picture of the Aerials doing their own form of Jet judo, which I am working on still. Second place wanted a fic of Skydive "_getting to be the Master Aerial Strategist/Flier that he's supposed to be - in/preparing for a battle, or even just a aerial contest_" I was thrilled to comply with both requests So, here's her prize fic, which I wouldn't have written otherwise, but dang am I glad I did.

Terminology:

Split-S: Dogfighting maneuver, and aircraft does a roll that causes them to flip and fly downwards, excellent for diving onto ground troops, other aircraft, or avoiding fire from an enemy.

Ten O'clock, Six O'clock: Think of a clock, put the aircraft's nosecone pointing to 12'clock. This is the idea. 6'clock is directly behind, and all other are set as if on a clock.

Deck: Flyer term for Ground. Bad place to be dogfighting.

* * *

**_DOGFIGHT - THEY DANCE WITH DEATH_**

Flying in formation high above the Autobot convoy, The Aerialbots scanned the horizon for Decepticons. Or at least, that's what they were supposed to be doing.

"Hey look! A river! I never noticed it-"

"Focus Fireflight," Chided Silverbolt. "You're supposed to be wingman for Slingshot."

"Oh... Sorry." Fireflight angled back into position off his brother's wing.

"Two Seekers off the Ten o'clock low!" Called Airraid. "Three thousand feet down!"

"Have they spotted us yet?"

"Nope!" Airraid made to go after the Decepticon jets.

"Raid! Cancel that!" Ordered Silverbolt. "There's two of them, where's the third?"

"Eh, who cares?"

"I do, and you should," Snapped Silverbolt. "Hunh? SCATTER!" Silverbolt and Airraid split apart, seemingly in panic and Skydive dove low as Starscream shot through the Aerialbot formation whilst Slingshot and Fireflight opened their air breaks, effectively decelerating so suddenly that the red seeker overshot and put the on his Six o'clock, not that they could fire with Silverbolt in the way.

Starscream KNEW he had the advantage; the two best flyers, Skydive and Silverbolt, were unable to attack him and he was about to down the Concorde. But Starscream had missed one important factor; one of those jets had Starscream right where he wanted him.

Skydive forced a sudden extreme G turn that flipped him over faster than should have been physically possible and fired an AIM Sidewinder missile at the red F-15. He guided the missile to its target until it locked on. Starscream fled, but the heat-seeking Sidewinder dogged him until it hit. And screaming to show his name, the Decepticon air commander plummeted Earthwards.

The Aerialbot squadron reformed swiftly. "Nice shot Dive!" Whooped Airraid gleefully.

"Thanks," replied the Falcon modestly. "But where did the other two go?"

"Eh..." The Aerialbots scanned the horizon and their radar; the seekers were nowhere to be found...

"Where the slag are they!?" Snapped Slingshot.

"Hey sky-bots!" Came over the Aerialbots' commlink. "Where are ya'll!? We got a situation over here!"

"Three thousand feet and five miles away," Answered Silverbolt evenly. "We'll be there in two minutes. What's your situation?"

"We can't wait two minutes! We got Decepti-jets hounding us with air to ground fire and no cover!"

Airraid swore. "I don't believe it! They used their main strike force as a diversion so we wouldn't see Starscream coming to gun us down!"

"Skydive go!" Ordered Silverbolt. "You're the fastest!" The F-16 Fighting Falcon hit afterburner and roared away at Mach 3, arcing upwards to gain height and speed advantage as the other Aerialbots made contrails for the Autobot convoy.

On the ground, the Autobots had transformed for battle and were fighting valiantly, but were being attacked from too many fronts. In the air, it was the remaining Seekers, the Coneheads, Blast Off and Vortex. On the ground, Soundwave, his cassettes and the Combaticons kept the Autobots from finding cover. A most disadvantageous situation.

Skydive rolled down into the fray, letting another Sidewinder missile fly. It lanced between Dirge and Thrust, surprising them into crashing into a cliff. The Sidewinder hit the other wall of the canyon, starting an avalanche that, while too far away to affect the battle, certainly caused a sensational distraction. One that the ever-tactical Prowl took advantage of to get the Autobots to cover.

"Skydive! On your Six!" Yelled Fireflight. Skywarp had teleported directly behind the Falcon and was lining up what he thought would be an easy kill. Skydive, however, wasn't the Aerialbot Tactician for nothing. Banking a hard left, he turned to try and get on Skywarp's Six. His tighter turns soon brought him close, but Skyward decelerated to the point where his greater flight surface put him at about the Falcon's equal. Skywarp turned and spun after the F-16, Maybe expecting him to break off and run after they got to close to the Deck.

But Skydive had no such intention. Around and around they circled, both subsonic to improve manoeuvrability, the F-16 and F-15 Danced. Like fighting dogs snapping at each others' tail, they fought the battle of wits, skill and courage, each trying to outdo the other in a magnificent display of aerial combat; Aptly known, as the Dogfight.

Lower and Lower they circled, caught up in a deadly Dance. If one were to break away, the other would pounce, if one were to arc upwards, the other would easily point his nose upwards and fire Death upon the breakaway. And yet, if they continued the downward spiral, they would soon impact the hard, unforgiving Earth.

Skywarp could teleported out, but he was caught up in the dance, bloodlust and the seductive whisper of Life goading him on. He had thrown caution to the slower wind, and wouldn't leave this Dance until his partner did. And neither would Skydive. Pushing themselves to the razor edge of performance, flying mere millimetres from out of control, Skydive and Skywarp flew ever-tighter turns, each waiting for the other to make that fatal mistake that would end his life.

A thousand feet about the ground. Now five hundred, thee hundred. Now One hundred feet above the ground and still they circled. The Falcon and the Eagle circled and snapped at each other, heedless of the rising Earth and the falling Sky. Fearless, each watched the other, waiting for his Chance, each ready to kill without hesitation. It was beautiful, yet tragic; terrible yet awesome. It was a true Dogfight; it was a Dance to the Death.

Far above, other jets circled, hoping for a chance to roll downwards into the fray and save their respective wingmates. They watched in alarm and disbelief as their friends circled lower, awed by the stunning display of aerial manoeuvrability. No jet fired a round; they were all caught up in this Dance that had lasted for so long. A dogfight that lasted five minutes held the promise of legends.

They were not to be disappointed.

"Holy slag!" Swore Airraid as both the combatants below became aware of their height, but recklessly dove even lower. Now mere meters above the ground; Skydive and Skywarp began to play a deadly game of Tag. By now, the ground troop were well aware of the aerial Dance and most has wisely sought cover, though laser fire was abound, streaking towards and past the jets, though not a shot struck home. Brawl took careful aim , planning to down the enemy F-16.

A hand jerked his weapon down. "No!" Brawl glared at Swindle, a bit surprised. "Don't! I have energon wagered on this!"

"So what?"

Swindle looked up as Skywarp roared overhead, Skydive in hot pursuit. There was an odd light in the Combaticon's optics. "Damn, that's beautiful. Look at it, they're gonna kill each other or die trying. Damn, even if I wasn't filming it, I wouldn't want it to stop."

Skywarp yanked his throttle back and rolled up, bleeding off Airspeed, pulling behind Skydive and firing a missile. With no room to dive, the F-16 hit afterburner and raised his nosecone to open sky, even though it would probably be fatal. Triumphantly, Skywarp followed to finish his job, but what happened next instantly became a par of dogfight lore forever; Skydive cut engine, stalled, and dropped straight down.

He managed to level out and he shot through a grove of trees, his wings clipping the tops off the tall pines. The missile impacted the Earth and Skydive reactivated his engines. Opening the throttle, he whirled after the stunned Skywarp.

Brawl shook his head in amazement and lowered his weapon. "No, I won't." He was in awe; the Falcon and Eagle were doing something almost mystical, neither would back down because they both had forgotten fear, forgotten caution, forgotten everything but how to fight and how to kill. It was beautiful.

Skydive lowered his pitch in time to avoid colliding with an outcropping rock. Skywarp didn't react quite quickly enough an clipped one of his tailfins on the harsh stone. Swiftly recovering, he hit afterburner and chased after the F-16 suddenly determined to ram him. After all, the bigger, more powerful Eagle could take that hit, whilst the swifter, more delicate Falcon could not.

Skydive jerked to the side, letting Skywarp slide past, then fired his cannons, shooting holes through the F-15. then he pulled up beside his enemy and yawed so that he could see the Purple Seeker one last time before dropping back to finish his job.

He'd won; he'd shredded his opponent, and everyone watched as the F-16 dropped back a final time, anticipating the roar and hiss of flying lead that would be Skywarp's death knell. High above, too far away to intercept, Thundercracker watched grimly as the Falcon brought his guns to bear on the purple F-15...

And then, amazingly, Skydive didn't shoot; he hit afterburner and blew by Skywarp. Arcing upwards, he tipped his wing to the wounded F-15 in a sort of salute, saying without words that it'd be _another day_.

Cheering, the Aerialbots swarmed their wingmate as Skywarp pointed his nose to the open blue and swooped after them. He tipped his wing, just once, before teleporting away.

"Wicked Ace!" Whooped Fireflight.

"Thanks guys," If he'd been in robot mode, Skydive would have been grinning. "But come on, there's still more Decepticons."

"I call Thundercracker!" Called Slingshot. He tore after the blue Seeker with Fireflight dutifully following along. Silverbolt barely hesitated before ascending to ten thousand feet with Airraid. Lazily, Skydive remained at his present altitude, though he remained alert. He started a bit when his commlink activated.

"Hey! That was pretty good kid!" Ah, Powerglide. "Awesome in fact! But ya know..." The A-10 flew up from the ground to join Skydive. "Ya still gotta prove you're an Ace to me. You lead, and prove it."

"HA!" Skydive rose magnificently to the challenge and arced after the Coneheads, drawing them into a fight. Powerglide kept back enough to down any enemy foolish enough to get on Skydive's Six.

Rejoicing in their deadly game, Those Who Fly spun and whirled through the air as they played. Heedless of danger. Knowing only that they were doing what they had been built to do...

_To Dance._

* * *

Voila! Was that ever fun to write! I love aerial combat! Bet me and Dive could spend weeks doing nothing chatting about dogfights... XD

Flames are a)used to roast Mary sues, b) sent to the Lambo twins for pranking or c) put out with an extinguisher.


End file.
